The gaming machine manufacturing industry has traditionally developed gaming machines with a gambling game. A gambling game is typically a game of chance, which is a game where the outcome of the game is generally dependent solely on chance (such as a slot machine). A game of chance can be contrasted with a game of skill where the outcome of the game can depend upon a player's skill with the game. Gambling games are typically not as interactive and do not include graphics as sophisticated as an entertainment game, which is a game of skill such as a video game.
In conventional networked-based interactive games, a game server is connected to a player device over a network. The game server creates the game content and communicates the game content to the player device over the network. The player device receives the game content and displays the game content to a player. The player's device receives player inputs and communicates the player inputs to the game server. In such conventional systems, continuous and synchronized communications at a high rate need to be maintained between the game server and the player's device in order that the game remain responsive to the player. Game response is adversely affected when certain conditions occur, such as when the network becomes congested, connectivity between the player's device and the game server is lost, and/or the game server becomes busy. Various embodiments of the invention ameliorate the effects of these conditions.